The General Retail Industry Award (MA000004) is a complex modern award due to a large number of businesses it covers.
This covers areas that sell or hire goods or services, including:
- Clothing
- Food
- Furniture and household goods
- Personal and recreational goods
- Bakeries
- Repair services for household equipment
- Customer information or assistance at retail complexes
- Delivery of newspapers
Recently there has been a push in the media, as well as attention from Fair Work Australia regarding payroll compliance. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand how many obligations employers have and the potential problems that could arise in meeting the Retail Award (MA000004) requirements.
While the Fair Work website does give everyone access to the award, it can be tricky to understand as it’s closer to a legislative document than an easy to understand guide.
You can read our Ultimate Retail Award (MA000004) Summary as well as downloading our eBook, which includes a bonus payroll processing checklist to ensure your business is compliant with all of the award requirements.
This article will cover some of the conditions that aren’t as well known from the General Retail Award that could be missed.
Disclaimer:
Please note that every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided in this guide is accurate. You should note, however, that the information is intended as a guide only, providing an overview of general information available. This guide is not intended to be an exhaustive source of information and should not be seen to constitute legal or tax advice. You should, where necessary, seek a second professional opinion for any legal or tax issues raised in your business affairs.
- Casual Employees Have the Right to Request Employment Conversion
- Junior Employees Are Paid on a Proportional Basis
- Breaks Need to Be Dispersed Throughout Shifts
- Breaks Between Shifts
- Working in Cool Rooms Pays More
- Shift Workers Earn More
- Shift Workers’ Shifts Need to Be Consistent
- Time off Instead of Overtime Payment
Once working for your organisation for at least 12 months, your regular casual employees are entitled to request that their contracts are converted to either part- or full-time, depending on how many hours they regularly work.
As an employer, you can only refuse this request if there are reasonable grounds such as:
- The needs of the workplace
- The type of work being done
- The qualifications and skills of your employee
- The employee’s personal circumstances
However, it’s up to your employees if they want to make a request, and you cannot require your casual employee to make a request.
Depending on how old your employee is, they are entitled to a percentage of the minimum hourly rate as in the table below.
|
Age |
% of minimum rate |
|
15 years of age and under |
45% |
|
16 years of age |
50% |
|
17 years of age |
60% |
|
18 years of age |
70% |
|
19 years of age |
80% |
|
20 years of age and employed by the employer for 6 months or less |
90% |
|
20 years of age and employed by the employer for more than 6 months |
100% |
These breaks need to be taken in such a way that your employee has one break in the first half of their shift and another in the second half.
If they do start work again without having 12 hours off, you must pay them at a rate of 200% of what they are otherwise entitled to.
Working in Cool Rooms Pays More
This allowance is paid on an hourly basis rather than as a lump sum, so make sure it’s added on to your employee’s pay.
Below is a table that outlines the rate percentages that they are entitled to depending on the day of the week.
|
Time of shiftwork hours worked |
Part-time and full-time employees |
Casual employees |
|
Midnight Sunday to midnight Friday |
130% |
155% |
|
Saturday |
150% |
175% |
|
Sunday |
175% |
200% |
You cannot arrange for an employee to complete both shift work and non-shift work in the same week.
However, this time off needs to be taken within 6 months of the worked overtime and at a time that is agreed on by both the employer and employee.
In our experience, given the complexity of the award, many of our clients have opted to adopt cloud payroll software such as Roubler as a solution to automate compliance and to help with labour cost control. Get in contact with us at Pay Cat if you’re interested in considering this option with the General Retail Award (MA000004) or any other modern award.
If you’re not ready yet, download our Ultimate Retail Award (MA000004) Summary eBook and checklist which comprehensively covers everything you need to know, including:
- Types of employment
- Shiftwork coverage
- Hours of work
- Breaks
- Superannuation
- Allowances
- Overtime
- Annual Leave
Alternatively, if you're interested in making the move to Roubler, get in touch with us to find out how you can automate your Modern Award compliance.